Materials-conveying flue



March 21, 1944 C. M. ASBILL, JR MATERIAL CONVEYING FLUE Filed March 29, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR C.M.ASB|LL JR.

ATTORNEYS March 21, c M AS L JR 2,344,528

MATERIAL CONVEYING FLUE Filed March 29, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jji .4.

INVENTOR C. M. ASBILL JR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 21, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATEBIALS -ZZfiYING Clarence M. Asbill, In, New Orleans; La" assignor to Claude R. Wickard, as Secretary of Agriculture of the United States of America, and his successors in oflice Application March 29, 1943, Serial No. 480,947 3 Claims. (01. 302-64) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act of April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described, if

patented, may be manufactured and used by or.

for the Government of the United States of America for governmentalpurposes without the v a payment to me of any royalty thereon.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross-section of another embodiment of the flue on line 4-4 of Figure 5;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross-section on line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view looking ,upward on line 6-8 of Figure 5.

This invention relates to flues, and in particular to the type of flue used for conveying lint materials, such as cotton lint, by air blast.

Flues of this type are preferably circular tubes and the materials are blown through them from one point to another by a fan blower. The action of the fan, some irregularities of the flue itself, or a combination of these, results in a spiraling motion of the air stream thi'ough the flue. With some materials, such as long staple cotton, this air motion results in roping and tangling of the lint to an objectionable degree.

Among the objects of this invention, are the provision of a flue in which the spiraling air motion is prevented without materially decreasing the capacity of the flue and by means which does not materially injure the conveyed material or inhibit its free passage, and such other objects as will be apparent from the following description and appendent claims.

The energy of the air blast resulting from its circular component of motion is small and, therefore, damping or elimination of the circular component can be accomplished with little interference with the longitudinal component. In general, this invention comprises the addition of a longitudinal fin attached to the wall, inside the flue, by suitable means and extending radially inwardly a suflicient distance to effectively block any rotary motion of the materials being conveyed. The necesary inward dimension of the fln depends somewhat on the type of material being conveyed, but in most circumstances will be from to the diameter of the flue. The end of the fin is provided with an inclined surface to stream-line it for preventing injury to the oncoming material and preventing undue loss of flue capacity.

For a detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary cross-section of one embodiment of the flue on line ll of Figure 2;

Figure 2- is a fragmentary cross-section on line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view looking upward on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Referring to the drawings, Figures 1 and 3, a flue ll of circular contour is provided with a fin it, having a web is secured at its one edge to the inner surface of the flue by any suitable means, such as by a weld it. The free edge of the web is provided with a rounded bead is to give rigidity to the edge, to eliminate any tendency of lint or fibers to collect on it, and to form with the flue and web a recess to help trap any air that tends to spiral and prevent formation of eddies.

At points where it is necessary to terminate the fln, especially where it faces oncoming material, the fin is inclined towards the wall of the flue and is covered with a stream-line bead l6 which may be an extension of head I5. This gives a stream-line effect and prevents injury to the oncoming material.

The stream-line bead of Figures 1-3 is simple and easy to construct and is satisfactory for use in handling materials, such as cotton lint or fibers, that are not easily cracked or damaged. With certain other materials, however, it is better to provide a large inclined surface to cover the end of the fln. The embodiment of Figures 46 shows such a surface. The flue and fin of this embodiment are similar to the corresponding parts of Figures 1-3, and reference is made to the above paragraph for their description.

The stream-line surface of the embodiment of Figures 46 is fabricated from a sheet of material folded to form a trough-shaped member 20, cut to fit inside the flue in the manner illustrated, and secured to the flue wall by any suitable means, such as by a weld 2!. The member 20, to prevent the least damage to oncoming material, should extend across the flue and radially inwardly in front of the fln, at least as far as the extent of the fln, as illustrated.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An air blast conveyor flue having a longitudinally extending fln attached to its inner surface and extending radially inwardly thereof,

the free edge of said fln being provided with a tudinaLly extending fin attached to its inner surface and extending radially inwardly thereot, the free edge of the fin being provided with a rounded bead, said bead being extended past the end of the fin and being inclined toward -the wail of the flue, thus providing an inclined'surface to stream-line the fin at its end.

3. An air blast conveyor flue having alongltudinally extending fin attached to its inner surface and extending radially inwardly thereof, and an inclinedsurfa'ce extending radially inwardly across the fine in front of the ,fin to stream-line the end of the fin.

CLARENCE M ASBILL, Ja. 

